SZPERO: "We want to be a Polish team that will finally compete against the best"

Grzegorz "⁠SZPERO⁠" Dziamałek discussed with HLTV the recent developments in the Wisla Krakow camp, their 2022 form, and his plans for the year and beyond.

A veteran of the Polish scene, SZPERO's extensive resumé includes entries such as G2, Kinguin, and AGO. He joined his current squad in 2019, after football team Wisla Krakow acquired adwokacik, ranked #44 in the world at the time. Since then, the Polish squad has seen many ups and downs, reaching their peak of #31 in the global rankings multiple times, unable to break through the top 30 barrier.

Despite a decent run between October-November 2021, which saw Wisla Krakow qualify for the Play-in of IEM Katowice, the squad was not able to close the year on a high note. A disappointing series of results in the closing stages of the season resulted in changes within the team, aimed at giving Wisla Krakow the tools necessary to break out of tier two.

In November, the squad made the decision to bench Kuba "⁠Markoś⁠" Markowski and bring Wiktor "⁠mynio⁠" Kruk on a temporary basis from Anonymo. The team would not remain like this for long, as a unique opportunity to sign both Kamil "⁠Sobol⁠" Sobolewski and Michał "⁠snatchie⁠" Rudzki unexpectedly arose, leading the team to make the two signings and leave Tomasz "⁠phr⁠" Wójcik and mynio on the sidelines.

The new lineup came into the new season all guns blazing, immediately showing much better form in their opening events of the year, even earning a surprise win over a new-look FURIA. They are now set to tackle the Play-in stage of IEM Katowice, walking into the biggest event of their region as the highest-ranked Polish team and looking to show their quality to the world. Ahead of their campaign, SZPERO took some time to talk to us about IEM Katowice, their roster changes, and his aims for the future, both for the team and individually.

Towards the end of 2021, after ESL Season 15 Conference, the team decided to change the roster. Markoś⁠ was benched with mynio taking his place, but at the start of 2022, mynio was removed alongside phr as snatchie and Sobol joined. How did these moves develop?

For a while, we had a feeling that our team was not making any progress anymore and we needed a minor rebuild to move forward as a team and reach a higher level. The end of last season was a transitional period for us - we benched Markoś⁠, and took mynio as a stand-in. In the meantime, we had some time to figure out the best opportunities for the team. We wanted Sobol already one year ago, and finally, we managed to convince him (his contract with PACT expired at the same time), so we took him for phr as we knew that the roles he played would suit Sobol well. We also decided to take mynio, but suddenly, at the end of December, snatchie reached out to us.

mynio stated that he was convinced he would retain a spot on Wisla for 2022 but ended up sidelined. What caused the change in mind? Was the opportunity to sign both snatchie and Sobol too good to pass?

The situation with mynio was complicated. As I already said, we pre-agreed to start playing officially together in January, and I was supposed to take the AWP as well as the IGL role. Everything changed when snatchie reached out to us. We were sure Anonymo had already signed him, so we didn’t consider him. We discussed it inside of the team and concluded that he’s a world-class sniper and we had to take him for the good of the team.

Looking at the roles, it looks great. I can focus on leading the team, and snatchie is a dedicated AWPer. However, it didn’t work well with mynio, and I can only apologize to him.

In Anonymo, snatchie struggled to reach the potential he showed during his earlier stints in AGO, but since arriving at Wisla he has been in really good form. To what do you attribute this sudden spike in performance?

snatchie is that type of player who needs good people around him and a great atmosphere in the team to perform on his highest level, I guess that we have it in our team. I also think that we always had a good game plan due to our coach - Loord. The team's core didn't change, and it’s always easier for the sniper to adapt to his role. Thanks to that, Michal adapted quickly to our style and showed himself from the best side.

Meanwhile, Sobol had just come off a strong year with PACT and has seemingly not missed a step since joining your squad. How is he adapting to his new teammates?

PACT was the only team Sobol has played in his professional career so far and he needed to change the environment to make a step forward in his career. I can honestly say that he’s one of the most talented players I’ve ever played with. He’s a brilliant player, who adapted fast to our style, and he’s one of the best lurkers. Many Polish top teams have been interested in him for a long time, and I’m pleased he chose to join our team.

So far, it has been a good year for Wisla Krakow, coming into Katowice with momentum on your side after some good results in the last month, the standout being a victory over FURIA in the Pinnacle Winter Series 1 quarter-finals. How did you manage that statement victory?

Last month was indeed good for us. We had a very productive boot camp in January, and we decided to play two online tournaments to get some official games behind us before going into IEM Katowice. Those games showed us many good aspects of our game and things we have to work on. The results were quite good, but we need to keep our heads calm. The game against FURIA was one-sided, but we have to remember that it was their first official game in the new lineup, and we played a couple of games already. Historically we have always played well against Brazilian teams, but obviously, we were very happy after beating the 13th team in the world, and it showed us that we can do a lot of surprises in the future against the best teams.

This form currently puts you as the highest-rated Polish team in the rankings. Was that one of the team's aims? Do you think you think you have the tools to take it even further?

Creating the best Polish team is not our priority. As you can see, the Polish scene has been in a big slump in recent years. We want to be a Polish team that will finally compete against the best teams in the world. I truly believe that this is the best team I ever had in terms of the firepower, roles, team atmosphere. The rivalry in tier two is challenging, as there are many good teams, however, we’ll work patiently, and sooner or later it will benefit us.

Going back to Katowice, your first matchup in the Play-In stage puts you against a device-less NIP – despite that, they have shown to still be a tough opponent to beat. How confident are you coming into this matchup? And generally, what are your aims for IEM?

There’s no doubt that we’ll face a strong team. We had the lowest seed from all teams in play-ins, so we expected a tough opponent. NIP is always a world-class team, and even without device they’ve shown good results, they even beat NAVI. The following games will also be difficult as we’ll face either fnatic or CPH. We are not favorites, but I’m confident that we can beat everyone by playing our own game if we don't fall to the pressure, as every Polish fan would love to see us successful in Katowice. We don’t have one specific goal at IEM, but obviously, we’d love to play in the Spodek in front of the fantastic Polish crowd. That’s a dream of every Polish player, but our main focus is to concentrate on the first game versus NIP.

On a different note, you have recently become a partner of an esport player agency. How did that come to pass, and what are you looking to achieve with this new venture?

The career of a professional player won’t last forever, and I want to make sure that I’ve done my best right now to ensure my future. I don’t want to wake up one day with the question of what I’m supposed to do today, and every player should think about his next step after a professional career. The role model for me is Robert Lewandowski, who’s been investing in a lot of various businesses during his career.

In 2018 the very first esports players agency was founded in Poland, and I was one of the first players that trusted them. They’ve done a great job regarding the contractual side and they’ve also supported me in a lot of aspects not related to CS. We fully trust each other, and recently when I was offered an opportunity to invest in ProPlayers and became a co-owner, I didn’t think much. I strongly believe in this project. I’ve been a professional player for over 10 years, and I know that such support is necessary. We will also help many young players develop their careers, not only in CS:GO but in various esports titles.

Right now, I’m entirely focusing on my duties as a player, however maybe in the future, I’ll engage in operational work in the agency. I love Esports, and I’m happy that I’ll be able to give my input and help new players even after my professional career.

Now looking to the future, what are the aims of Wisla Krakow for 2022 after Katowice? Are there any milestones you are looking to touch, any particular achievements the squad or organization is keen on earning?

As I already mentioned, I believe this is the best version of Wisla Krakow team in history. We’d love to advance to the next Major and be a competitive team against the best in the world, however, we keep calm heads, and we will work hard to prove it. Our main goal is to progress from game to game, and we’ll see how far we can get.